Adventures in Finland, the Kitchen and the Sewing Room

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Tag Archives: Burda magazine

…I finished this coat already some time ago… Yeah, well… I could repeat again about why I bother to blog it so much later, but you know, I’ve said it before. So from now on, out-of season pictures will not be commented on further.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram (I’m Lazylinchen there as well), or have read my last post, this coat must look very familiar.

Fashion Shoot! – Well, probably more like catalogue…

It has taken up my sewing time and instagramming since before Christmas. But that is not even half of the time this garment has lingered on my to do list. Since my long cropped sweater post we all know my projects may take rather long to get done.

This project started its “life” in 2009, when it was published in the August issue of Burda Style. Yes, more than 5 years ago. Both the style lines, as well as the huge hounds-tooth fabric really appealed to me.

First Coat Ever!

Nothing came of it, though as I quickly got distracted by other projects. But then Project Runway season 8 happened. I was/am a huge fan of Mondo‘s work, which felt so fresh and new to me (still does). At that point I remembered the coat and the oversized hounds-tooth print, which I felt could have come straight from his collection. Shortly after, I happened upon this fabric and subsequently traced the pattern. I might even have bought elbow length suede gloves to wear with the 3/4 sleeves…

Then I stalled for the next 4 years. I would get the pattern out every Autumn, read the instructions, get intimidated and postpone to the next year. After all, the fabric was just too precious to mess up.

Glimpse At Lining – Can you believe that we forgot to take pictures of the back? -.-

But last Autumn when I was organising my stash after the move to our new place, I was suddenly over the fabric. So I pulled the pattern out and started cutting. No muslin, because I thought this design is very forgiving in terms of fit.

As for the construction, I took it very slowly and followed the instructions closely. They were usual Burda, but I used the German version, which I suspect makes more sense (plus, I learned to sew in school using Burda). For the collar and lapel, both upper and lower pattern pieces were the same, then (as per instructions) the lower pieces were just eyeballed and pinned to the correct (smaller) size. Apart from that, it was pretty straight forward. For the lining I tried to reduce bulk by eliminating as many seams as possible, as I used polar fleece instead of lining fabric.

I fused the facings and collar only, and in hindsight, I should have block-fused the whole coat, as the fabric is quite shifty (it’s loosely woven cotton) and creases easily.

I took quite a long time to decide on the closure. I should have done bound buttonholes, but I forgot and then it was too late. Regular machine buttonholes didn’t work, the four layers of fabric (I used 2.5 cm seam allowances) plus interfacing were just too much for my machine. In the end I cheated and used big snaps, sewing the buttons on as decoration.

Apart from being the first ever coat I made, there are quite a few firsts for me on this project: first time sewing a flap pocket, first lapel collar, first time sewing a 90º angle.

Collar Close-up

I wore the coat only a few times, as by the time it was finished, it got too warm for it. I had very mixed reviews from people. It seems that either they love it for the boldness, or they don’t get it as it is quite big. I for my part am insanely proud of my coat and love wearing it. Plus, it can even accommodate the little one!

Now I will have to wait for a long time to put it on again, as we are currently away in Madrid for 6 weeks on another work trip, then on to visit the in-laws in Sicily. If you have any fabric and/or notions shopping tips, for any of the two locations, I’d be very happy to hear them!

That’s the reaction I get from my spouse whenever I publish a sewing post. But hey, I need to satisfy my boasting needs on here, as it would be way to obnoxious to do so in real life! So here goes, two quick makes from recently. First up, a redo of an old favourite:

This was actually the first thing I sewed after I took up sewing again. In hindsight, it was probably a bit too advanced for me back then. But I didn’t know knits were supposed to be difficult, so I wasn’t scared of starting it. And then it turned out to be one of my most worn things! I should really get into that mindset again with the Watson Jacket I keep procrastinating…

Anyway, the new version is 10cm longer, but otherwise unchanged (well, the snaps are different, didn’t have any huge ones left). Making this, I realised how much my skills have improved since 2009! While it took me two afternoons to make this back then, this time it only took one and a lot less swearing (none, in fact)! I know this will get a lot of wear again, as it’s comfy and, while simple, still interesting enough to be worn by itself.

This next make is yet another pattern I’ve made before:

BurdaStyle 09/2011 #108A

I happened to have some time at my hand quite unexpectedly one day. So I went to the local fabric store, thinking I could buy something to make undies for me and PB. This way I could satisfy my urge to buy something, but still keep it to a minimum, as undies don’t require much fabric. But then I had to go look at the cut-off bins…! This is where I saw this happy striped rib knit in rainbow colours. Argh! and it was soo soft! ARGH! I debated a long time, but then I won and bought it. (You can’t really lose against yourself, can you?)

I was going to maternify this pattern, using So Zo’s tutorial. But then realised that the stripes wouldn’t match anymore. Which they HAVE TO! Yep, I’m that OCD about stripes by now… So I just made a regular version, hoping it will fit for some more time. I love how it turned out! I mean, look at this! Almost perfect stripe matching! (I said I needed to boast…)

BurdaStyle 09/2011 #108A – Stripes match up all around!

This is the third rendition of this pattern, and it’s the third with stripes. Here is what I wrote about this pattern’s first version on burdastyle.com. I think it lends itself to stripes beautifully. Plus, I wear a lot of stripes. My version of a print. (I used to wear black head to toe as a teenager, and have just recently (erm, last 5 years…) started dipping my toes into colours and patterns again)

There’s nothing like making a TNT (tried and true) pattern to get you back into sewing! So now that I have gotten reacquainted with sewing, I feel ready to try a new to me pattern. Plus, I really need some maternity clothes, as I start showing a little. My jeans haven’t fit since month 3 (2 months ago), I have just been wearing them unzipped, using the rubberband trick I saw on maternity diy. I did buy 2 pairs of maternity jeans, but that’s the extent I want to keep it at. Now I should start on those maxi dresses I bought so much fabric for it extended my stash to unreasonable proportions…

BTW: the last pictures were taken just now, at 6pm. I love Spring here even more than before. Isn’t that light gorgeous!

It seems I have a severe sewing addiction. When packing for the Christmas holidays, I included several patterns that I need to trace. More patterns in fact, than clothes. Not in volume, but in number. Since this is the step I dislike the most, I figured, I’d take the advantage of not having a sewing machine around, but still get something done sewing-wise.

Then, as soon as I arrived in Switzerland, I bought the January edition of Burda Style magazine. Of course I went to this awesome fabric store in Winterthur (the one I bought the fabric for the Voyager shirt from) and might have bought 10 meters of different colourful jersey (Ooops! Destashing seems impossible…). Two of these ten meters were a purple/off-white stripe viscose/elasthane, destined for top 122 on the cover of said Burda magazine.

BurdaStyle 01/2014 #122 – front view

When I confessed about all of the fabric to my Mamma, she said: “If you want, I’ll bring my sewing machine along for the Christmas holidays.”

OF COURSE I WANTED!

So on Sunday before Christmas I went to work, and within 1 day I had a new (stroke inducing when viewed on skype) shirt. I loved the effect the gathering gives to the striped fabric:

BurdaStyle 01/2014 #122 – front detail

It was super easy and fast to put together. Matching the stripes took some time, granted, but I think that’s what makes the difference between “nice” and “WOW!”. Plus, it makes me proud and happy. So there!

BurdaStyle 01/2014 #122 -matched stripes side view

I really like the construction details of this top, even from the back, where stripe matching was impossible/unneccessary:

BurdaStyle 01/2014 #122 – back view

So it seems I can’t even spend ten days without sewing. Should I worry?

(P.S: My life is currently awesome, as these pictures were taken today at 20°C in the Circus Maximus, with the Palatin in the background.)

So, the move to Finland is fast approaching, which means I have no time to sew. However, many a thing hidden in my drawers for a long time is coming to the light of day again. (Due to having to sort through my stuff to fit that crazy 20 box limit I set myself). So here you see a top I made very quickly after the magazine came out, I think.

Burdastyle magazine 07-2009 top 124A

Yes, the pattern is from a dependent big pattern company (as opposed to independent small pattern companies, such as Sewaholic, Colette or Victory Patterns). But, you see, the greatest mum ever (e.g. mine) gave me a Burdastyle magazine subscription for Christmas 2008.

So this top caught my eye becuse it seemed very easy, but still a bit unusual. It was very easy, though I hadn’t sewn a lot of knits at that stage of my (non-existent) sewing career. It came out exactly the way I wanted it to. What I hadn’t considered before, though, was the fact that you cannot really wear a bra with it. (d’oh!)

Pretty deep back leads to non-bra-wearing

So I didn’t wear it very often since it came into existence. Fast forward 3 (oh, wow!) years, to the purging of unneccessary clothing items before The Move. In the meantime I lost some weight and consequently some cupsizes. So when I put it on I found that nothing is jiggling even without bra. Yay!

Non-jiggly sideview

On this last picture you can see the way it wraps from the back to the front. There is also a maxi dress version of this pattern. I am seriously contemplating doing that as well, but we will see how many summer dresses I will need in Finland…

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Lazylinchen

I'm an ex-librarian, English master, mum to two boys, and wive to a genius. I like to cook, sew, bake, knit, and DIY in general.
I mostly live in central Finland and am always happy to meet new people (online and off).
You can contact me at lazylinchen (at) gmail (dot) com